Hoop pushing toy

ABSTRACT

A wooden or other elongated body has one end acting as a handle and its other end provided with a transversely extending hoop engaging element formed of bent wire provided with loops at the ends of the portion projecting from the stick; the wire is relatively heavy and stiff and has portions adjacent the stick seating in grooves therein to assist in anchoring it, and the extremities of the wire body extend through openings in the stick and are fixed by headed tubular rivets driven through the top face of the stick to grip the edges of ribs formed on the wire extremities.

Jenkins [4 Jan. 29, 1974 HOOP PUSHING TOY [75] Inventor: Joe H. Jenkins,Franklin, Ark.

[73] Assignees: Robert Clay; Kenneth F. King, both of Hardy, Ark. partinterest to each [22] Filed: Aug. 14, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 280,148

1 2/195 1 Hammett 46/220 Primary ExaminerLouis G. Mancene AssistantExaminer-Robert F. Cutting l5 7] ABSTRACT A wooden or other elongatedbody has one end acting as a handle and its other end provided with atransversely extending hoop engaging element formed of bent wireprovided with loops at the ends of the portion projecting from thestick; the wire is relatively heavy and stiff and has portions adjacentthe stick seating in grooves therein to assist in anchoring it, and theextremities of the wire body extend through openings in the stick andare fixed by headed tubular rivets driven through the top face of thestick to grip the edges of ribs formed on the wire extremities.

7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEUJAN 29 I974 HOOP PUSHING TOY TI-IEPRIOR ART It is the commonpractice to form devices of this kind with along stick having a transverse hoop engaging member formed of wood andattached to the stick by nails or screws. This is a rather make-shiftconstruction and rough usage soon destroys the transverse member, andparticularly its connection with the stick.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The stick of the present device ispreferably formed of wood wider than its thickness and preferably havingits edges rounded to facilitate the gripping of the handle end. At theother or lower end of the stick, a hoop engaging element is attached.This element is preferably formed of heavy stiff wire bent to providetwo parallel portions transversely of the stick and each terminating ina looped end extending downwardly and outwardly at 'an angle. Theseangled portions assist in maintaining contact between the hoop and thewire element and assist in guiding the hoop and as it is pushed over theground by the user.

One of the parallel portions of the wire element terminates in theextremities of such element and these extremities are bent perpendicularto the adjacent parallel portion to extend through openings in thestick. The lower face of the stick is grooved to receive the adjacentparallel portions of the wire to assist in maintaining it rigid withrespect to the stick. The extremities of the wire are provided with twoor three grooves, the shoulders of which terminate in sharp edges, andthese edges firmly engage the inner surfaces of headed tubular rivetsdriven into countersunk openings aligned with the openings through whichthe wire extremities extend. Thus the extremities of the wire are fixedagainst downward displacement from their openings. The rivets preferablyare provided with square heads with two adjacent edges contacting witheach other and to assist in preventing any relative displacementthereof, the rivets heads may be provided with a heavy coat of solder orbrazing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING I FIG. I is a perspective view of thelower end of the device in use, the hoop to be rolled being shown indotted lines;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the device, a portion of the stick being brokenaway;

FIG. 3 is a somewhat enlarged detail section on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a similar view on line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a detail underside perspective of one of the rivets; and

FIG. 6 is a section on line 66 of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The device is provided with a hoop engaging unitindicated as a whole by the numeral 24 adapted to be engaged with a hoop26 to roll it over the surface on which the device is being used. Thisunit is preferably formed of a single piece of heavy stiff wire and isprovided with spaced parallel portions 28 and 30 arranged respectivelyin the grooves 20 and 22. The diameter of the wire is preferablyequivalent to the width of the slots 20 and 22 to be snugly engagedtherein. The parallel portion 30 preferably carries the extremities 32of the wire unit and these extremities extend through drilled-openings34 through the stick. The upper portions of the extremities of the wireare grooved as at 36 to provide sharp edges engageable within thetubular portions of tubular rivets 38 driven downwardly into countersunkrecesses 40 in the top portion of the stick. The rivets preferably areprovided with square heads 42 having adjacent abutting edges, and alayer of solder or brazing 44 is coated over the heads of the rivets tofirmly anchor them relative to'each other. The remote portions of thewire unit are turned downwardly and outwardly at an angle as at 46 andterminate in loops 48 spaced outwardly a'substantial distance from thestick.

OPERATION A child using the toy would start the hoop rolling and willpush it along usually with the extended portions of the wire. Thedown-turned ends 46 tend to prevent displacement of the hook fromthewire unit and they also serve to assist in the guiding of the hoop ifit tends to roll from its intended course.

The grooves 20 and 22 snugly receive the parallel portions of the wireunit, thus effectively preventing any twisting of the wire unit in theplane of its parallel portions 28 and 30. This assists in fixedlyanchoring the wire unit to the stick. The extremities 32 seat snugly inthe openings 34 and are driven thereinto. With the countersunk openings40 previously formed, the bottom of the device may be placed on a hardsurface and the rivets driven tightly into position, snugly engaging theopenings 40 and tightly gripping the edges of the grooves 36. The solder44 is preferably employed to assist in preventing any relativedisplacement of the rivet heads.

The construction of the device is so rugged as to render the devicepractically indestructible. It will withstand very hard use and willhave a long life in use by children who take little care of a device ofthis character.

I claim:

1. A hoop pushing toy comprising an elongated stick one end of whichprovides a handle, and a hoop engaging unit fixed to the lower end ofsaid stick, and formed of a single piece of stiff wire having spacedstraight parallel portions extending across and beyond said stick andeach having downwardly and outwardly angularly bent portions beyond thestick connected together by integral loops.

2. A device according to claim 1 wherein the underside of said stick isprovided'with transverse grooves snugly receiving the respectiveparallel portions of said unit.

3. A device according to claim 1 wherein said grooves anchor said unitagainst twisting relative to said stick in the plane of said parallelportions, the extremities of said unitary wire occurring in one of said6. A device according to claim 5 wherein the upper end portions of saidextremities are annularly grooved to provide sharp shoulders firmlyengaging the tubular portions of said rivets when the latter are driveninto position.

7. A device according to claim 6 wherein the heads of said rivets areprovided with adjacent flat edges contacting each other to prevent anyrocking of said rivets on their axes, and a coating of metal extendingover both of .said rivet heads to assist-in anchoring them againstdisplacement.

t i t t t

1. A hoop pushing toy comprising an elongated stick one end of whichprovides a handle, and a hoop engaging unit fixed to the lower end ofsaid stick, and formed of a single piece of stiff wire having spacedstraight parallel portions extending across and beyond said stick andeach having downwardly and outwardly angularly bent portions beyond thestick connected together by integral loops.
 2. A device according toclaim 1 wherein the underside of said stick is provided with transversegrooves snugly receiving the respective parallel portions of said unit.3. A device according to claim 1 wherein said grooves anchor said unitagainst twisting relative to said stick in the plane of said parallelportions, the extremities of said unitary wire occurring in one of saidparallel portions and being turned perpendicular thereto to extendthrough the stick.
 4. A device according to claim 3 wherein said stickis provided with openings therethrough snugly receiving said extremitiesextending through said stick, and rivets having heads engaging the faceof said stick opposite said grooves and having downwardly extendingsleeve portions driven into tight engagement with the upper ends of saidextremities.
 5. A device according to claim 4 wherein the face of saidstick adjacent said rivet heads is countersunk to provide openingstightly receiving said sleeve portions of said rivets.
 6. A deviceaccording to claim 5 wherein the upper end portioNs of said extremitiesare annularly grooved to provide sharp shoulders firmly engaging thetubular portions of said rivets when the latter are driven intoposition.
 7. A device according to claim 6 wherein the heads of saidrivets are provided with adjacent flat edges contacting each other toprevent any rocking of said rivets on their axes, and a coating of metalextending over both of said rivet heads to assist in anchoring themagainst displacement.